From the Heart
by Beej's Babes
Summary: After the war, Harry decides to take on the family business from his mother's side. Namely, the owner and president of the Council of Watchers. SLASH Harry/Spike, Super!Harry, Dumbles/Weasley bashing
1. Chapter 1

Summary: After the war has ended, Harry decides to take on the family business from his mother's side. Namely, as owner and president of the Council of Watchers.

Warning: This fanfiction will contain Slash, as in two men in a homosexual relationship. If this is not your cuppa tea, there is a nice convenient back button at the top of your page. Go find something else a little more to your tastes. I also assume in this story, that everyone has the basics of both Buffy and Harry Potter. If Im spoiling something for you, go finish those two before you start reading again.

Disclaimer: I do not now own, nor have I ever claimed to own, either Harry Potter or Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. And really, if I did, Do you think I would have let Harry marry Ginny, or that I would have let Spike leave that damned amulet on? I think not.

_**From the Heart**_

"*_sigh*",_

It was finally over. He had done what most had claimed to be impossible. Harry Potter had finally done away with the Dark Lord Voldemort.

But at far too high a cost.

Looking out at the battlefield where he had finally cornered old Tommy Boy, Harry couldn't stop a second sigh from escaping him. Around him, scattered across the field behind Riddle Manor, were the bodies of a few thousand people. Dark, Light, Creature and everything in between, no group had been spared. Thankfully his own forces had come up from the carnage with minimal losses, but every loss hit him.

"My Lord," came a gruff voice from behind, and Harry turned to see one of the goblins, Axemaine, who had come with him to the battle. "My Lord, the chieftain wishes to speak to you when you are ready."

Looking down at the small but fierce warrior, Harry was suddenly carried back to when the goblins had turned his entire world on his head.

*_flashback 5 years*_

It was the summer before his sixth year at Hogwarts, and Harry was once again at the Dursleys' for the summer. Although his relatives had finally taken the Order's threat to heart, by finally allowing him food and free reign to come and go as he pleased, Harry still took on maintaining the garden. It was his favorite place to be, surrounded by earth and grass and flowers, with the sun shining down as he gave the plant life all the TLC it needed after being subjected to ten months of his Aunt's halfhearted attempts at gardening. It also gave his mind an escape from thinking on Sirius' death, and the opportunity to keep an eye on which Order member had been placed on guard duty that day. Why they thought he wouldn't notice a wizard sitting in his flowers at random, he had no idea.

Harry was neck deep in a bush of rhododendrons, trying to pull a few stubborn weeds from its base when he heard a crack from inside the house, quickly followed by a squeal from his Aunt Petunia. He had just managed to pull himself from the pink flowers and stand up when his Aunt found her way through the backdoor.

"Harry! Get in here and get this thing out of my house!" She tried to yell in a voice that wouldn't alert the neighbors, but he knew at least half the street had still heard her. He sent up a silent prayer in thanks as he ran into the house that it was that useless wizard that smelled of old socks and tobacco on guard duty, and was currently asleep behind the hydrangeas.

Whatever he was expecting to see as he hurried into the living room, it certainly wasn't a goblin propped on the ottoman, holding a file of papers and sipping a cup of tea that must have been conjured as his Aunt had her hissyfit.

"Ah, Mister Potter, at last. My name is Romtik, and I have been sent to you by the Gringotts chieftain on a matter of great urgency," said the goblin, as Harry walked in and sat on the end of the sofa. "We have been unable thus far in speaking to you about your inheritance due to the interference of your supposed magical guardian, and as your sixteenth birthday is in only a week's time, our chieftain decided to use a few legal loopholes in order to get this information to you in time."

At a loss for words, Harry stared at Romtik for a few moments before managing to croak out, "Uh, what inheritance, and who is supposed to be my Guardian? I wasn't aware of either."

Romtik frowned, and nodded. "We had thought as much. Your supposed magical guardian is Albus Dumbledore, but we are almost certain that isn't a claim he can make. And as for your inheritance, there is quite a bit more than even Dumbledore suspects, but we can't know all of it until you claim your titles on your birthday. But I will give you the basics now."

Just as Romtik began to open the file he carried, Petunia came scuttling back into the room. "Whatever you have to tell him, do it away from here! I put up with him in my home only because I'm forced to, I will not have any more of your kind in my home any longer than necessary!"

Instead of being angry, Romtik actually gave a rather frightening smile, and pulled a page from the top of his file. "Madam, if you wish him gone, all you had to do was say so. Sign this, and Mister Potter will be gone from here, never to return."

"What?" Harry and Petunia yelled at the same time. Romtik's smile only grew.

"We had a feeling that something like this was going on. The moment your Aunt signs this form, you Mister Potter will become a Ward of the Goblin Nation. Not even the Minister of Magic will be able to touch you once you are our Ward."

Swallowing hard, Harry looked up at his Aunt, who seemed to be debating with herself if this was a good idea or not. On one hand, she would never again have to worry about the boy contaminating her family, but on the other, Dumbledore would more than likely show up and try to do something to them for allowing the boy to leave. Looking up at the strange creature, she made her decision.

"If I allow the boy to leave, can you do something for me to make sure Dumbledore can't do anything to us?" she asked, and then cringed as the goblin gave an even more sinister smile.

"As a matter of fact, there is already a clause in the contract which states that as soon as Mister Potter leaves, no wizard or magical being will be allowed within one hundred yards of your property. This is done to ensure that no one can force our ward back here without his consent. It would also give you some protection against any magical being who wished you harm," Romtik explained, and after a few moments, his Aunt nodded. "Excellent. Sign here madam."

Petunia took the offered quill, and after signing her name, promptly dropped the quill and gasped as the contract automatically multiplied into three copies, which then rolled and sealed themselves. One copy disappeared, presumably to the Ministry, one copy was stashed in the file, and the final copy was handed back to Petunia. "Keep it safe, the wards only work while all three copies are intact."

At her nod, Romtik turned back to Harry, who was suddenly feeling rather lightheaded at being free. "If you would gather your things Mister Potter, we have a limited time before the contract kicks us off the property."

Harry raced up the stairs and came back with his trunk, which he'd barely unpacked anyway, and stood waiting for the goblin. Romtik quickly grabbed his arm, and turned to Petunia one last time. "Pleasure doing business with you, madam. We haven't had the opportunity to piss Dumbledore off like this in decades." Harry snorted, and for the first and last time in their lives, Harry and Petunia smiled at each other, before Romtik disapparated them away from Privet Drive, and straight into Gringotts.

"Welcome to Gringotts Mister Potter. Or should I say welcome to your new home as a Ward of the Goblins." Said Romtik as they landed in a beautifully carved stone corridor deep inside Gringotts Bank. Looking around, Harry quickly realized that the entire space, including tapestries and the chandeliers, were carved directly from the stone, and then given color with thin pieces of precious stones and metals.

"The Chieftain Angrok has asked to speak with you personally about your inheritance if we managed to get you away from your relatives," Romtik explained as he hurriedly led Harry down several winding corridors.

Harry frowned at this. "Why would your chieftain take an interest in my inheritance? As far as I've been told, the Potters were a respected pureblood family, but they weren't exactly high up and the food chain."

Romtik's creepy grin came back with force. "That may be true, but we aren't talking about that inheritance." Harry was led into a very ornate office, and pointed towards a chair before the large, but short marble desk. "We are more concerned about what may come down through your mother's line."

"But my mother was a muggleborn. There is nothing _to_ come down through her."

"That is where you are wrong, Mister Potter," came a new voice from the other side of the office. Harry turned to see the oldest goblin he had ever seen walk through a side door. But despite his obvious age, Harry could tell that Chieftain Angrok was still strong enough to kill him within the blink of an eye. "I can see now that Dumbledore has managed to keep you even more in the dark than we suspected. It is thankful that a few arcane laws that the old man has forgotten about have finally allowed us to inform you of what is going on. We were unable to act before now, because the law requires us to wait until one week before you come of age if we feel that we must inform you of certain things ourselves."

Harry frowned again. "But I'm only going to be sixteen. I won't be of legal age until I'm seventeen."

"And again, you have been told wrong. As the last living member of your family, you are allowed to lay claim to anything that should rightfully be yours on your sixteenth birthday. This law was made in order to keep feuds over inheritances shorter, and it is thankfully working in your favor." Angrok took a seat behind his desk, and bent to pull a small bottle of swirling blue potion and a piece of parchment from a drawer in his desk. "Now then, we already know that you will be inheriting everything of your parents the Potters, and everything of your godfather Sirius Black's, as he named you his sole heir scant weeks before he died. This potion will help us determine what else you are entitled to. We at Gringotts found out that your mother was actually from a family of squibs just a month before you were attacked, likely because Dumbledore did a better job keeping us away from her than he did with you. But as we never managed to test her, we don't know what could come through to you. This potion will help us with that."

Romtik held out a small silver dagger, which he took in shaking hands. "Three drops of blood into the potion will suffice."

Nodding, Harry brought a still slightly shaky hand up and pricked his finger on the dagger, allowing the needed blood to fall into the bottle. Angrok swirled the potion around a bit, waiting for it to turn a deep purple color, before upending the whole thing onto the parchment. Slowly the potion began to swirl into words, and within about five minutes the potion finished, leaving Harry's inheritance written in purple ink. Angrok picked up the parchment, and began reading.

"Potter and Black we knew about. Peverell, an ancestor of the Potters, but useless as their formal line and their fortune dissolved centuries ago, though you may receive a power increase on your birthday. There is a trace of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw from your father, but only enough to inherit a few heirlooms. Now from your mother, the Evans line was quite powerful in the supernatural circles, and you are the first family member in fifty years who can claim their foundation the Council of Watchers, dedicated to finding and aiding the chosen Slayer."

"The what?" Harry asked. This frown was starting to become stuck.

"The Slayer, a muggle girl imbued with supernatural powers in order to fight demons. We will explain more about that later if you decide to take over the head of the foundation. Now the next name," Angrok flipped the parchment over, and promptly went white as a ghost, "Merciful Gods!"

"What's wrong?" Harry yelled, jumping up and rushing with Romtik around the sides of the desk, in order to aid the elderly goblin who was currently choking on air. Angrok slung the parchment towards Romtik, who grabbed it up, and after reading what sent his leader into a fit, looked as though he might have a fit as well.

"Will one of you please tell me what is wrong?" Harry asked as he grabbed a glass of water from a side table and held it up to Angrok. "It can't be that terrible."

"Your right, it's not terrible at all," said Angrok as he gasped through the glass of water. "But it is still quite a shock to the system to see that family after so long."

Looking to Romtik for an explanation, the younger goblin took a gasping breath, before choking out, "Due to the merging of Lily Potter nee Evans with James Wolfram Potter, the bloodlines finally merged enough in you, their son, to give you the sole right to the entire Emrys clan, and everything entailed therein."

"Emrys?" Harry asked, his sense of dread growing by the second.

"You, Harry James Potter, are the sole heir to Merlin himself."

And with that, Harry lost all consciousness, and fell to the floor.

After they managed to wake him up, the goblins began preparing Harry in earnest for everything he would be faced with as the heir to such a powerful name. In one week, they managed to squeeze more history, genealogy and pureblood etiquette into his head than the last five years at Hogwarts. He also found out later that when Romtik wasn't beating another piece of information into his skull, that Angrok was fending off daily attempts from Dumbledore to take him back out of the Goblin's care. Thankfully Angrok managed to spin the Ministry's queries into the matter in his favor, telling Fudge that Harry had no longer felt safe in Dumbledore's care. Seeing an opportunity to take Dumbledore down a notch, Fudge came out in public support of the Goblins taking Harry as their ward.

"After all, we entrust the Goblins with all of our greatest treasures, why would we not trust them to take care of our greatest asset of all?" the Minister later quoted to the Daily Prophet.

At eleven thirty the night of the 30th, Harry went with Romtik back to Angrok's office. When he entered, he saw that a large space had been cleared in the middle of the room, and Angrok was waiting for him at the desk with a row of small boxes in front of him. "Good evening, Harry. I trust Romtik has properly prepared you for what is to come tonight?"

Harry nodded, taking a seat at the desk. "Yes, though I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. Something about being given new powers?"

"Yes, at midnight, you will begin placing the Lord's mark of each family onto your person, and the moment the last one is placed on your body, all the power of your ancestors will be channeled into you. For a normal wizard, this would not mean much, perhaps a slight change in physical characteristics, a scant few memories, and occasionally a one to two percent power increase, which might as well be no increase at all. But because you are the Scion of so many different Houses, and most especially the clan of Emrys, we are not entirely sure how much you will gain from this. For this reason we have cleared the room and will be taking precautions during the transition to ensure that you are not injured."

"Alright, so I just have to put on the family mark and I will be accepted as the new head of that line. Is there any particular order I should go in?"

"I believe it would be best if you started with the smallest line and work your way up, which will mean Potter first, then Evans, Black and finally Emrys." Angrok stood, and after directing Harry to the middle of the circle, stood as far away as he could and still be in reach. "I will hand you each piece, and then when you are holding the final piece, please wait until I have moved away from the circle to put it on."

Harry nodded, and as the clock struck midnight, Angrok held out the box containing the Potter ring, which turned out to be a thick gold band with an arrangement of tiny diamonds in the shape of a rearing griffin. He placed it on his right ring finger, which began tingling as he held out his hand for the next piece. The Evans ring was a simple silver band with a large E carefully carved on top, and as it slid onto his right middle finger it began to tingle even harder than the potter ring. The Black family mark turned out to be a silver bracelet, about two inches thick, with a piece of onyx wrapped all the way around, and small diamonds scattered through the onyx in an imitation of the night sky. After snapping the bracelet around his right wrist, which then began to itch fiercely, he watched as Angrok gently held open the box containing the Emrys mark. It was a thick silver bracelet, on top was a formation of beautifully clear purple amethysts set in the form of a phoenix with its wings spread wide, and a line of shining emeralds went around the bracelet, connecting to the phoenix's wingtips.

After gently lifting the bracelet from its resting place, Angrok scurried away from the circle as fast as he could, before nodding to Harry to put it on. Taking a deep breath, Harry slid the latch open, and closed it gently around his left wrist. The moment the small silver latch closed again on the other side of his wrist, all the jewelry flashed red hot, before his entire world went up in a flash of light.


	2. Chapter 2

_**From the Heart**_

Chapter Two

When Harry opened his eyes again, it wasn't to see Angrok's office as he expected, but to nothing but pure white clouds.

"…the hell?"

Sitting up from where he lay on his back, Harry looked around the area. It looked like the classical idea of heaven. Pure white mist underfoot, solid blue skies above, and what looked to be Greek columns in the distance.

"Like it?" came a voice from behind, and not even Voldemort's worst torture sessions would ever get Harry to admit that he yelped like a little girl. Jumping to his feet and turning to face the one who spoke, Harry came face to face with a man who looked to be in his mid thirties, dressed in muggle clothing that looked to have gone out of fashion decades ago. "I picked this scenery myself."

"Who the hell are you? I didn't die in the middle of that did I?" Harry asked, looking around himself again for any other signs of life. And looking back at the man before him couldn't stop himself from asking, "And what the heck are you wearing?"

The man rolled his eyes. "I see just one week living with goblins has managed to make you far more blunt when asking questions. And to answer, call me Whistler. My real name is a bit difficult to pronounce unless you have the vocal chords of a dolphin. No, you are not dead, and you are here, because the Powers That Be have asked for me to deliver something to you." Whistler said, grinning a bit as he looked the boy up and down. "And you're one to talk about clothing. I know they came with the scenery, but white really isn't your color."

Looking down at himself, Harry saw that he himself was dressed in a white balloon-sleeved tunic, silver embroidery running around the collar and hem, dove grey leather pants, and bare feet. "Why am I dressed like a stunt double for Siegfried and Roy?" and then his brain caught up with the rest of what Whistler had said. "Wait, I'm here because of _what_?"

"The Powers That Be have decided that they need a stronger human voice in their name here on Earth. You are to be given the strength and power they have deemed necessary for you to properly fulfill your destiny. You will also be made into a direct line to the Powers."

Harry looked at him flabbergasted for a few moments. "Direct line to them how?"

"Ah, how to explain this? More or less, you will be half human, half Other."

Harry looked at him confused. "Half other? Other what?"

"Half mystical being, I suppose would be a good way to put it. You'll be given the powers of a creature somewhere in the middle of angel and demon. Not either of those, but somewhere in the middle, as they intend for you to be a balance maker. Not Light, not Dark, but a complete shade of Grey. Just as your own ancestor Merlin was."

Harry shook his head to clear it. "Alright, assuming I'm not really just hallucinating from hitting the stone floor in Angrok's office, you're telling me that the Powers which control the entire universe, want to make me a balancer for the entire planet? How the hell am I supposed to do that alone?"

"Oh you won't be alone, not after a while. Right now you have the Goblins and your closest friends to help you through your first trial with Tom Riddle." Whistler smiled a bit crookedly at him. "And after Riddle, if you manage to defeat him, you will become tied very closely with another group of The Power's chosen ones. In fact, in one of the possibilities for the future that I've managed to glance, has you finding a very deep love with one member of their group."

"Really?" Harry asked a bit wistfully. "That's something I never thought I'd live long enough to find."

Whistler's smile became much kinder, "I would never joke with someone as starved for love as you have been. But," he clapped and rubbed his hands together, "I don't want to give the whole thing away, that ruins all the fun of it! So, you ready for The Power's gift?"

Harry looked at his feet. If Whistler was telling the truth, there might actually be something and some_one_ out there for him someday. It was more than he'd ever hoped for before. Well, if he was ever going to meet this person, he would just have to start giving old Tommy Boy some hell of his own. Looking back up at Whistler with a new confidence, he nodded. "Do it."

"Alright then," Whistler held out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, Harry reached out a shaking hand and took it. Suddenly, it was as if fireworks went off in his brain. He could feel everything, every nerve ending, every pump of blood his heart beat out through his body. And then he felt it – it was as if liquid lightening had been poured through him. Pure, crackling energy soared through his body, making him feel as though he would fire off like a rocket at any moment. And then as quickly as it had started, everything stopped dead in it's tracks. Opening his eyes, Harry found himself on his knees in the mist, breathing like he'd just run a marathon and a thin sheen of sweat covering him.

Trying to catch his breath, Harry lifted his hand to run it through his hair, he felt something shift around his neck. Looking down, he saw a pendant hanging just below the hollow in his throat. It was a heavy Celtic knot, about one inch wide and two inches long, made of what looked to be heavy strips of silver colored metal twisted together to form the intricate pattern. Attached to either side of the heavy pendant was a thickly made chain of the same silver metal. It was slightly feminine and elegant, while at the same time completely masculine and simple.

"That necklace is to serve as the symbol of what the Powers have made you. A balance to the Light and the Dark, neither good nor evil, but directly in the middle." Whistler said to him as he struggled to his feet. "My job was just to deliver this to you. Your powers are your own to figure out." And with that, everything went black again.

The first thing Harry noticed when he opened his eyes again was the stone chandelier in Angrok's office hanging over his head. The second was the powerful pounding in the back of his brain. Groaning, he looked around to find Angrok and Romtik standing on either side of him looking down worriedly at him. Or well, as worried as a goblin was able to look anyways. "Harry? Are you alright? You were out for quite a while longer than expected."

Slowly, he moved to stand, "I think I'm alright. Is there a mirror here?" They pointed him to a corner where a massive gilded mirror stood, and he choked back a gasp as he looked at himself. This new power had made him grow, whereas before he had stood at a not-so-imposing 5 foot 7, he now stood right at six feet tall. He was no longer wearing his glasses, and he could see in sharper detail than ever before. His muscles seemed to have bulged, though he was still quite lean and athletic in shape. His dark tan from gardening had paled, and he now had a light golden glow to his entire body. His family marks stood out in stark contrast to his skin, as well as the Celtic pendant, which told him he really hadn't been dreaming. In all, he'd say he would pass as quite handsome now, if it weren't for the now-too-small clothing stretched tightly over him after the growth spurt.

Angrok eyed the new pendant about his neck. "You were called to after the claiming, weren't you? That necklace is made of mythril, a mystical metal. Only a Higher Being could have given that to you."

Harry nodded, looking down at the two goblins he'd so quickly become friends with. "Yes, something did happen. I hope you're prepared to help me train for whatever the Powers have decided to throw me into."

The goblins looked at him, and then grinned in a way Harry had associated to them getting ready to cause certain people a great deal of headache. "I'll take that as a challenge, young Lord Emrys," Angrok said, hands rubbing together in a slightly evil way.

Looking back at his reflection, Harry nodded at himself. "Then let it begin."

And with that, the goblins had begun training him in earnest. They began pounding lesson after grueling training session after lesson into his head and body, trying to teach him what would take a normal person a few decades to learn in the shortest time possible. And Harry, discovering more about his new powers every day, took to the lessons like a fish took to water. Romtik became his main instructor in all things of the mind, and of money. Along with teaching Harry everything he could about history, philosophy, culture and literature, he also taught him everything he would ever need to know about gold, jewels and money. Everything from melting down and shaping precious metals, and setting stones and determining their worth, to the best ways to handle his own money and getting more money out of the people around him.

Angrok, ever the warrior chief, was his instructor in all things physical. From making him swim in the freezing underground lake beneath the bank, to instructing him on weapons of all shapes and sizes, Angrok slowly but surely turned the once gawky young boy into a fierce warrior. Angrok often tested him against the goblin warriors who guarded the bank, and though he more often than not got his ass handed to him, Harry knew when he'd improved every time Angrok invited an older, more experienced warrior than the last one. They slowly became something like his favorite uncles, and it was the best times of his life up until that point when he spent his days training with the two goblins.

It was about a month into his training, just a few days before the start of term, when Dumbledore finally managed to gain an audience with him. Angrok had just told him to do ten more laps across the lake for moving too slowly on his last lap, when a young goblin that Harry didn't recognize walked in. After whispering something to Angrok, the goblin scurried back through the door, and the chieftain waved at Harry to get out of the water. "We will finish your training later. Old Dumbles has finally convinced someone to let him speak with you. Go make yourself presentable, and meet us in my office in twenty minutes."

Harry nodded, smirking, and rushed to his room. As with the rest of the areas beneath the bank, his room was carved from solid rock, and though extremely comfortable, everything was entirely functional and useful, and Harry liked it that way. Going to his closet, Harry pulled out his favorite set of dress robes the goblins had had tailored for him. Underneath the robes, was a pair of black silk trousers and a black cotton turtleneck. Pulling the shirt over his head, Harry adjusted his pendant to lie outside the collar of the shirt, as Dumbledore wouldn't know what it meant anyways, and then slipped his thumbs through the holes in the sleeves. He didn't want to show off any more of his family status than Dumbledore already knew about, and these effectively hid all but his Potter and Evans rings. He then pulled on the long deep green robe, trimmed in simple silver knot embroidery. After adding a pair of matte black dragonhide boots to finish the ensemble, Harry rushed to Angrok's office.

As he entered the room, Harry saw Angrok sitting at his desk, Romtik standing behind him to his right. Dumbledore and Minister Fudge sat in front of the desk, and surprisingly Kingsley Shacklebolt stood behind the Minister as his guard for the day. Harry moved further into the room, and after taking the last chair closest to Angrok's desk, waited to see who was going to speak first. Predictably, it was Dumbledore.

"Harry my boy! It is so good to finally see you. We were so worried when we found you had left the safety of your home on Privet Drive. I hope you realize how dangerous that was, Harry," Dumbledore said to him in his best disappointed grandfather voice. Harry barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

"Considering that Romtik transported us from directly inside the wards on my Aunt's home straight into the most secure building in all of England, I'd say not really very dangerous at all. And by the way, from what I've learned since leaving, I'm fairly sure your supposed blood wards were never actually effective anyways," Harry said, raising his eyebrow at the old man.

Fudge began sputtering. "Blood wards, Albus? Those are quite illegal, and quite dangerous to cast. I hope you have an explanation for this!"

"They are not illegal if they are _family_ wards, Cornelius. All I had to do was place him with a blood relative, and as long as Harry called that place home-"

"Ah, but therein lies the problem." Harry interrupted. "They never actually took effect, as I never once truly considered Privet Drive my home. My aunt and I never shared anything remotely familial, other than our actual blood itself."

"Albus!" Fudge nearly roared, looking ready to explode. "You never ensured the wards were working, and you still sent him back there?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I never assumed Petunia's harsh feelings toward Lily would extend to you Harry."

"It's all said and done now. I would prefer to move on from that part of my past."

"Well said, Harry. And on that note, we have another matter to discuss. Now that the general populace is aware of Voldemort's return, the Minister has agreed to allow me to begin a training schedule for you alongside your regular schoolwork. It will be mostly extra defense training with various professors, and a few extra lessons from me. I would also like for Professor Snape to begin teaching you Occlumency again-"

"No."

Dumbledore turned on his patronizing-grandfather smile again. "Harry, it is in your best interest that you learn to protect your mind."

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. "You misunderstand me. I'm not saying no to the Occlumency lessons, I'm saying no to all of it. I will not be returning to Hogwarts this fall."

They stared at him, dumbstruck.

Dumbledore gave him what was probably his equivalent of a glare. "Harry, as your magical guardian, I must insist in you returning to the school, for your own safety."

Angrok finally decided to speak up. "Actually Headmaster, you are no longer Harry's guardian of any sort. Harry has claimed his title as Lord Potter, as he is allowed to do now that he is sixteen, and recently before that he was made a Ward of the Goblins, with his Aunt's consent. You have no say in what he can or cannot do."

Fudge sputtered for a moment, before finally stuttering out, "Well, what will you do for your education, Mr- I'm sorry, _Lord_ Potter? You will still be required by the ministry to complete the NEWT exams before you turn eighteen."

"We have taken the liberty of researching and hiring a set of tutors to teach him what we Goblins cannot. We should be expecting the first two to arrive here within the week." Angrok said, handing a file full of names and resumes to the minister to leaf through. "I assure you Minister Fudge, with the tutors we have found, Lord Potter should be more than ready to sit his NEWTs by Easter."

Fudge leafed through the file, looking at the various tutors Harry would be studying under. "Well, I suppose this will suit. These are some excellent witches and wizards you've managed to dig up, so I suppose as long as he is prepared to sit the NEWTs by the time you've promised-"

"Now hold on, Cornelius," Dumbledore interrupted. "There is no way that could happen, as even my professors at Hogwarts couldn't prepare a student that quickly, and we have some of the finest teachers in the world. Now really Harry, I must insist that you come back to school with your friends."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "Finest in the world, professor? While I'll give it to you that McGonagall and Sinistra, and a few others, are indeed top notch, you also have a habit of employing some of the most ridiculous people I've ever seen. First, a stuttering fool who was being possessed by Voldemort, then an absolute faker who couldn't even stop a dozen Cornish Pixies, then a Death Eater who was holding the actual professor hostage in order to make Polyjuice, and then, no offense Minister, but Umbridge had to be the biggest flop of them all when it came to teaching. And let's not forget the _ghost_ teaching History of Magic, whose class is considered by most students a free nap period, and that snarky bat in the dungeons who scares the students so badly that he's probably ruined a few generations of students who could have gone on to be excellent healers and potions masters. And last but certainly not least, the Divination professor whom you hired after having only _one_ legitimate prophecy on record. The very prophecy that you've used to continually run my life as your personal marionette, as a matter of fact."

Harry leaned back in his chair, "Understand this, headmaster. I will not be returning to Hogwarts. I will however be in contact with you, as I know you have information that could be vital to winning against Voldemort. And you will start telling me everything headmaster, no keeping half the information to yourself until it's too late for me to do anything. Your habit of hoarding information is what got my godfather killed a few months ago."

Settling back in his chair, Dumbledore suddenly felt every one of his one hundred and twenty-two years more than ever before. Looking at the boy- no, young man across from him, he felt that if his legacy would be passed to anyone, he could think of no one better than this strong young buck across from him. He nodded to himself. Harry would turn out to be quite powerful indeed, he only hoped he lived long enough to see it happen. "Alright Harry. You win. No more secrets. I must return to the school to finish organizing for the new school year, but if you would like, I will alert you to the next Order meeting. And after that, we will have a private discussion on a few things that you will need to know."

Harry nodded. "Very well. Contact me when you are ready to meet."


End file.
